Dr. Donald Harrison will step down as top administrator at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center, effective Jan. 1, 2003.

        His departure will end a 16-year career as one of Greater Cincinnati's most influential — yet surprisingly unknown — power figures.

        Dr. Harrison's name has not been as instantly recognizable as Procter & Gamble's John Pepper, Fifth Third Bank's George Schaefer or Cincinnati Mayor Charlie Luken. But his influence on the lives and economy of Greater Cincinnati has been profound.

Dr. Harrison

        The 68-year-old Dr. Harrison has been senior vice president and provost for health affairs at UC since 1986, where he played a huge role in shaping local medical care, medical education and promoting biotech research as an engine of economic development.

        He plans to retire after taking a year-long sabbatical. A national search for his replacement is expected to begin soon.

        During his tenure, Dr. Harrison boosted the national reputation of the UC Medical Center with a six-fold increase in outside research funding — from $30 million in 1986 to more than $215 million in fiscal 2002. He also has been a relentless, outspoken advocate for making even larger state and private investments in biotechnology.

        “I brought a vision, and I think that I've managed to convince other people that that vision is an important one,” Dr. Harrison said Tuesday. “It has taken longer than I thought. I expected to accomplish these goals in seven to 10 years at the most. But now I think we've got a lot of things in place and moving forward.”

        The UC Medical Center includes more than 14,700 employees, more than the local employment at P&G. The network includes the UC colleges of medicine, pharmacy, nursing and health, as well as the affiliated University Hospital, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, the VA Medical Center, the Shriners' Cincinnati Burns Hospital and Hoxworth Blood Center.

        The medical center's affiliated hospitals and physicians provide the largest amounts of high-tech specialty care in the region, and by far the most care to the poor and uninsured.

        Add it all together and the UC Medical Center has a $3 billion annual impact on Greater Cincinnati's economy, second only to the Cincinnati-Northern Kentucky International Airport's $3.9 billion impact, according to a study commissioned by UC in 2000.

        “Dr. Harrison has been a key leader, especially on the academic and research side,” said Lynn Olman, president of the Greater Cincinnati Health Council. “There has been a lot of research growth during his tenure. To make that happen, you need to create an environment where researchers can flourish, and that is something that Dr. Harrison certainly did.”

        Dr. Harrison's accomplishments include:

        • Recently securing the donation of the former Aventis pharmaceutical labs in Reading as a site for expanded biotech research.

        • Building the $46 million Vontz Center for Molecular Studies in 1999.

        • Launching Bio/Start, a highly respected biotech business incubator in Corryville in 1996.

        Dr. Harrison was praised by many and criticized by some for his central role in forming the six-hospital Health Alliance of Greater Cincinnati; reorganizing UC's faculty physician group now known as UC Physicians; and converting the city-built University Hospital into a private, non-profit organization.

        Dr. Harrison and other leaders at UC also have been criticized over the years for failing to realize the original goal of building the Barrett Cancer Center into a nationally prominent research and treatment center.

        “The cancer center has been one of my disappointments. But I do think we're on track now,” he said.

        Dr. Harrison will leave with some goals still not accomplished. Among them: full funding for a $170 million plan to rebuild UC's sprawling Medical Sciences Building and completing UC's Millennium Plan, launched in July 2000, which calls for hiring 260 researchers within a decade.

        Come January, Dr. Harrison does not expect to abandon his mission of promoting medical research as an economic growth engine.

        He plans to help recruit world-class experts to serve on an advisory board for UC's new Genomics Research Institute. He also will stay involved with UMD in Blue Ash, as well as continue board roles on several biotech and medical device companies.

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